The Best Adventure
by accioamber
Summary: Percy and Audrey had a rocky marriage, and then she got pregnant. Molly's birth may not be what it seems. Written for the 3 prompt challenge here on .


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter, I make no money off of this, etc, etc.

A/N: This was written for the three prompt challenge here on . My three prompts were Percy Weasley, necklace, and the quote "I heard her crying in the bathroom." Writing this story was like pulling teeth—Percy is one of my least favorite characters in the whole series! But sometimes it's good to have to write outside of your box, especially since I haven't written in so long. I ended up actually really liking this one. Here goes nothing!

**Break-**

Percy Weasley would be the first to tell you that his marriage had not always been perfect. He and Audrey had gotten married for selfish reasons-her parents had pushed her, saying that 27 was too old to still be dating and that she needed to settle down; Percy because he had woken up one morning and realized how awfully lonely he was, how lonely his life was, and needed someone to share it with. He hadn't been used to feeling that way, so when he proposed to Audrey after only seven months of dating, and she said yes, they both knew, in the quiet recesses of their brain that they would never speak aloud to anyone, that they might not be making the right decision.

They still fought like cats and dogs, spitting words at each other that were hurtful and mean and just not things one should say to their spouse. Audrey would yell that he was cold and distant and all he cared about was his work; Percy would chime back that she was aimless and had no dreams or backbone of her own and she had tried to glom on to his success at the Ministry. He made her cry. She made him furious. They always went to bed angry.

Nearly a year after they'd been married, Percy started to think that it just wasn't going to work. They were too different, and he had made a grave mistake in choosing Audrey. He started thinking of ways to tell his family that he was leaving her and wanted something else, but every which way he thought of it ended in everyone being upset with him for being unable to stick it out. His family loved Audrey, especially his mother, and since the death of Fred, he was much more interested in pleasing her and not upsetting her. Molly Weasley couldn't take much more upsetting.

Still, though, Percy couldn't take it. The sight of Audrey made him bristle with anger sometimes, and he wanted out. Then she laid the game changer on him.

One night after a particularly nasty fight about how he was never home and was a sorry excuse for a man, after he'd accused her again of being lazy, she'd raised her shirt to reveal her swelling abdomen; it was totally out of context and unexpected.

"You're pregnant?" he spat at her in disbelief, staring at the place where her flat stomach had been before.

"Yes. 12 weeks. And I'm keeping it so even if you think you're going to divorce me, we'll still have a baby together and you'll still be responsible," she said coldly, lowering her shirt and standing there.

And so he'd been trapped, more or less. It wasn't that he wasn't happy about her being pregnant, because he was. While he had never given much thought to children, that didn't mean that he wouldn't love his own and welcome him or her into his life. It was just that Percy had been a career-driven person for all of his adult life. Before that, he'd been school-driven. Nothing was too much if it helped him succeed. Nothing would get in the way of his success, not if he had any say in it.

Audrey was wild, carefree, impatient, maddening. She could fly off the handle without a moment's notice, giving no thought to what she was saying. She yelled, she cried, she stomped her feet, all the while somehow managing to be utterly enticing. She was captivating, and that was what had driven Percy to her the night they'd met in The Leaky Cauldron. He'd been dragged out for a beer by George, and while he was sipping the bitter drink, he'd seen a girl across the crowded room. It was like a novel; she was soaking wet from the pouring rain outside, and she was drinking by herself and reading a book. He watched her twirl a strand of her curly hair around her finger and idly sip her drink. She had been captivating.

Their whirlwind romance had revealed the best and worst parts of each other. As he stared at his pregnant wife, he imagined the child that would come from them. He hoped with everything he had that their baby would have only the best parts.

He turned and walked away, shutting himself into his study and poring over some documents from the Ministry. He knew that Audrey would use it as more ammunition against him, but it was how he needed to unwind. She'd be in her study, painting angry slashes of color against a stark white canvas while he went through his paperwork. That's how they were, two such different people, joined together forever now, for better or worse, by a tiny person who hadn't even been born yet.

**Break- -**

For three days, Percy and Audrey didn't speak. They didn't speak about their fight, the bills, or the baby. As usual after one of their blowouts, they retreated to different corners of their home and stewed. On the fourth day, Audrey came into his study.

"Yes?" he asked curtly.

"I have an appointment tomorrow. For the baby. I was just thinking that if you wanted to come and...see him, or her...you could. If you wanted." She then turned to go, and that was when everything started to change.

The next morning they Apparated to St. Mungo's together, hand in hand. Loosely, but still definitely there. It was a start. An hour later, Percy was sitting in a dark examination room with his wife, while they both watched a picture of their baby with his or her heartbeat echoing in the room around them.

Slowly but surely, from that moment on, his relationship with his wife changed. He did his best to snap at her, and in turn she did the same. They started talking more, and though it was hard some days not to revert back to old habits, he would think of that picture of his unborn child and bite his tongue. As time went on, he found himself biting it less and less. He was enjoying Audrey as he had never enjoyed her before.

Her pregnancy passed quickly for him, although he could tell she was uncomfortable. Audrey was not a happy pregnant woman, and the glow around her, though palpable, was etched with an irritated light. By the end, she had gained sixty pounds, was roughly the size of a house, and wanted nothing to do with anyone. Their relationship, though better, couldn't solve her irritability about being pregnant.

"I'm the size of a house," she said the day she was due. Not so much as a contraction had happened, and she was annoyed.

"You're beautiful," Percy assured her, laying a hand on belly and feeling their son or daughter send up a kick. They had decided to wait to find out the sex of their baby, something they'd both started to regret as time went on. Neither would cave and find out though, so their baby was a mystery.

"I am not beautiful, I am rotund, and I want this baby out _now_," she said angrily, staring down at her belly. "Come on, do your Mummy a favor and come out. It's time," she wailed helplessly.

"The baby will come when he or she is ready," Percy reasoned, which earned him a look of contempt.

He was right, though, and it turned out that their baby wasn't ready to come out until exactly one week past Audrey's due date. 15 hours of labor, 2 of intense pushing, and much screaming, swearing, and crying later, their baby was born. Their daughter. She was perfect, pink and wailing, and they were both totally and completely in love. Percy had never felt this way before, and wasn't sure if he could ever feel this way again. He'd never felt full of love before, like he was a well that had been filled up with affection for this tiny baby he held in his arms.

They named her Molly, after his mother, who had been so excited from the start. The news of this pushed Molly over the edge and she burst into tears, sobbing along with her infant granddaughter in his arms. Audrey cried happy tears and Percy just stood there beaming. He had a daughter.

Both Audrey and Molly were scheduled to stay in St. Mungo's for two days following the birth, and the day before they were set to leave, he snuck out as Audrey and Molly were both sleeping. He needed to get something. Seeing Molly being born, seeing her face and knowing that even through anger and animosity, they had made something, just once, that was perfect, had given him even more love for his wife. He wanted her to know that he was all in, that nothing could change the way he felt about her and Molly and he was never going to leave. He Apparated to a jewelry store in Diagon Alley, where he ecstatically told the jeweler about his wife and new baby girl, whom they were both over the moon for, and he came back with something perfect. Necklaces for all three, Audrey, Percy, and Molly. A simple silver chain with a silver circle attached to it with all of their initials engraved by magic. Percy paid the man and Apparated back to the hospital.

When he got back to St. Mungo's, he went upstairs and was walking down the hallway towards his wife's room, jewelry box in hand and a smile on his face. Suddenly he saw Ron coming toward him at a hurried clip. "What's up?" Percy asked curiously.

"It's Audrey. I heard her crying in the bathroom. I knocked but...she won't come out, I don't know what's going on," Ron said with a nervous look on his face.

Percy went into the room and knocked on the bathroom door. He could hear Audrey sobbing in there, earnestly, and it sounded like a kitten mewling. "Audrey? What's wrong?"

He heard her continue sobbing, so he knocked again. "Come out, what's the matter? Are you okay? Did something happen?"

A minute later Audrey came out with tears streaking down her face and she melted into Percy's arms. "Hey...why are you crying?" he asked as he smoothed her hair back.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured into his shoulder.

"Sorry for what? What could you possibly be sorry for? You brought our beautiful child into the world, everything is perfect right now. Everything," he said.

"Everything in the past, Percy, I'm so sorry for everything in the past."

"I don't want to think about the past. The present is all that matters," he said kindly. "Stop crying, I have something to show you."

He helped her walk slowly back to her bed and then helped her in; she was still sore after giving birth. Then he sat down on the bed next to her and held out the box that the necklaces were in. She took it from him tentatively and opened the top of the box with trembling hands.

"Oh, Merlin, Percy. They're so beautiful," she said in a hushed voice, pulling the necklaces out and draping them on the bed. "Our initials. They're gorgeous."

"I wanted you to know that I'm all in, and that I'm beyond sorry for our marriage up until your pregnancy. Seeing you pregnant with our baby girl, knowing that you and I had come together even in our anger to make something wonderful, made me fall in love with you in a way that I had never felt before. I love you, Audrey, and I love Molly." He kissed her full on the lips and as soon as he broke away, she started sobbing again.

"Audrey, what is the matter?" he asked, and she gulped for air, hiccuping.

"I slept with someone else," she said between tears, and Percy froze.

"You what?"

"When we were fighting, right before, I went out with Abby and I got drunk and...I'm so sorry, Percy..." she trailed off. He got off the bed and walked over to the bassinet Molly was laying in. He stroked the baby's face, and she turned slightly towards his touch, opening her eyes and looking up at him. For the first time since she'd been born, he didn't see her beautiful rosy cheeks, or her bright blue eyes. He saw that her jaw was not Audrey's and it definitely was not his...same with her nose, and the size of her ears.

"I don't want her to be anyone but yours," Audrey murmured. With a deep breath, Percy turned around and sat back on her bed. He wiped her tears away with the pads of her thumbs.

"Neither do I," Percy said quietly, and took Audrey's hand. "I love our daughter, so she will be..._our_ daughter."

Audrey and Percy met eyes and then she nodded. "Our daughter."


End file.
